Baroque Instruments and the Suite the rise of instrumental music early vs late Baroque instrumentation instrument designs were improved finest violins in history Stradivarius Guarneri Amati violin strings were made of gut from animal intestines to make a softer sound than the normal strings we use today woodwinds were made of wind horns and trumpets valveless called natural timpani occasionally added to the orchestra The Baroque Suite an instrumental genre a collection of dance related movements Allemande Courante like a waltz Sarabande Spanish dance Gigue jig a lively English dance repeated sections ornamented second time Water Music Suite in D major II played for a royal party on the Thames River in London July 17 1717 22 numbers without continuo theme introduced with trumpets and horns divided into 3 different suites ABA form Music at the French Royal Court grand entertainments of Louis XIV and Louis XV court composer Jean Baptiste Lully composter at the Palace of Versailles outside Paris director of the 24 Violons du Roy Jean Joseph Mouret theatrical composer at the court in Paris strage works and di vertissements entertaining company with a play w music also composed instru mental suites suite de symphonies Suite de Symphonies Mouret Rondeau written for a full Baroque orchestra trum pets oboes bassoons violins double bass timpani and continuo familiar fanfare sound five part rondo structure A B A C A regular phrasing with a strong even beat The Baroque Concerto some basic elements were contrast and unity there s opposition of different forces from two different groups of instruments latin concertare to contend with solo concerto one solo instrument set against with an orchestra concerto grosso small group is called a concertino larger group called ripen or tutti Antonio Vivaldi 1678 1741 Italian violinist and composer called the red priest be cause of his hair color Music master at school for orphaned girls prolific composer 500 concertos chamber music operas cantatas oratorios gloria The Four Seasons by Vivaldi a group of four violin concertos each concerto is ac companied by a poem the music depicts specific lines of the poem word painting no 1 Spring La Primavera no 2 Summer L estate no 3 Autumn L atumno no 4 Winter L inverno Spring La primavera solo violin string orchestra continuo three movements 1 evokes animals and nature Ritornello form 2 largo in triple meter imagery forms a sleeping goatherd s poem ostinato dog bark in violas 3 rustic dance drone of bagpipes